Bo the Portuguese water dog is cute, fluffy, and has done well growing up in the White House limelight.

But he also represents a broken campaign promise.

President Obama promised author Jana Kohl, who had been lobbying on Capitol Hill to end puppy mills, that he would adopt a dog. He even posed with her three-legged poodle rescued from an abusive breeder in a photo that was carried on the cover of American Dog magazine.

In October 2008, Michelle Obama told Entertainment Tonight that her family would be adopting a shelter dog after the election. The news was welcomed by groups that had been trying to persuade the Obamas to opt for a rescue dog after hed mentioned they might get a goldendoodle because theyre hypoallergenic.

Senator, no one needs to tell you that this country is proud to be a melting pot, and that there is something deeply wrong and elitist about wanting only a purebred dog, PETA wrote Obama at the time. Millions of Great American Muttsthe dog that should be our national dogare set to die in our nations extremely overcrowded pounds and shelters for lack of good homes. Compassionate people nationwide are choosing to adopt a homeless pound puppya grateful refugee from a society that has not always treated the true underdog kindlyrather than cater to special interests who do not have dogs interests at heart.

The Best Friends Animal Society gathered more than 50,000 petition signatures urging the Obamas to adopt instead of buying or acquiring one from a breeder.

So shortly before the election, Michelle Obama made that vow  they would get a rescue dog.

We hope that the Obama family really listened to our message, and we hope that Barack, Michelle, and their daughters find a loving mutt who needs a good home, PETA responded.

Well they didnt get the message. Instead, they got a purebred gift from Uncle Teddy.

Sen. Kennedy gave the Obamas a six-month-old littermate of one of his own Portuguese water dogs. Bo had originally gone to another family but was returned to the breeder after not getting along with other dogs in the home. Not exactly a rescue dog.

This is a missed opportunity to set a pet-adoption trend among Americans, said Abbie Moore, executive director of Adopt-a-Pet.com, at the time. With pet relinquishment up 20 to 30 percent due to the poor economy, pets in shelters can use all the help they can get.

The Obamas felt that they could stem the disappointment over a campaign promise not met by donating to the Humane Society. Suddenly, with some new cash in pocket, the HSUS was willing to forgive Obama for taking in a second-chance breeder dog that had gone right back to the breeder after the first chance didnt pan out. They called it a gray area.

But the Obamas arent the only ones on the ticket to renege on an adoption promise. Vice President Joe Biden angered shelter advocates when he got Chance, a German Shepherd puppy from a breeder whose kennel license was later revoked for dozens of violations, and promised that he would get a second dog from a shelter. So far, theres been no second dog, just a brag from Biden in 2009 that his pooch is smarter than Bo.

Ive had German Shepherds since I was a kid and Ive actually trained them and shown them in the past. So I wanted a German Shepherd, and were going to get a pound dog, which my wife wants, who is hopefully a Golden [Retriever], Biden told George Stephanopoulos in December 2008.

Fifty-six percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats who end up in shelters are euthanized.

About a third of dogs in shelters are purebreds (I should know  I found my Chihuahua, Chi-Chi, sitting on my desk as I type this, nearly a year ago at a county pound where shed been left after being used for breeding). Mutts are just as important and loveable.

Doggie is missing a leg and looks frightened. President BHO has a big smile on his face .hmmmmm The President may have puppy breath of a different kind.

The dog story leads me a different direction. Our leftie comrades are sending up trial balloons in kicking off one of their typical personal smear campaigns. They go with the dog story and it backfires. They next try a polygamy smear and it also backfires. Notice neither Obamas dog eating or family history of bigamy/polygamy were issues in the 2008 election. Thats the difference between them and us. Expect the worst in dirty politics from the Obama Chicago political machine  Axelrod specializes in this.

I see nothing wrong with preferring a purebred dog. When the time comes that I can finally consider getting a dog, nothing will obligate me to adopt a mutt.

I prefer rough collies and German shepherds, but would consider other breeds such as golden retriever, Australian shepherd, border collie, Shetland sheepdog, etc.

BTW< there are rescue groups out there for possibly every breed there is. I might consider one of those.

Then again, I might go to the pound someday and find an appealing dog, purebred or not. But where I am there are lots of purebred dogs of certain breeds in the pound: German shepherds, pit bulls (would not even consider having one of them), Chihuahuas, and some others, besides the usual mongrels.

I have cats, so I'd have to find a dog who could be trained to get along with cats.

All elitists say this. And all members of animal shelters, rescue groups and humane societies know that they say this whenever they bring a purebred dog into the home. The first words out of their mouths are, “The next dog we get will be from a shelter”... and they never get a second dog. The animal groups exploit the sound bites as they escape the mouths of the elites. It’s a game that never ends because both sides know how it is played in the media.

Kennedy Endorses Water Dog For Obama Family WBZTV.Com ^ | January 13, 2009

Senator Ted Kennedy made an important political endorsement Tuesday [January 2009]. Massachusetts' Senior Senator endorsed the Portuguese water dog as the perfect pet for the nation's new first family.

[snip]

"A Portuguese water dog is the perfect choice for first dog," Kennedy said in a written statement. "The Obama girls -- and their parents -- will love a Portuguese water dog. They're loyal, smart, loving and they became a real part of the family. And they definitely do not shed."

Senator Kennedy and wife Vicki have three Portuguese water dogs of their own. Sunny and Splash often accompany Kennedy to the Senate. "They love being around people and being part of the action," he said.

The Kennedy's just added a third Portuguese water dog to the family, a puppy named Captain Courageous  or 'Cappy' for short. ..."

"On Friday night July 18, 1969 around midnight a married man, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, was driving his oldsmobile on the island of Chappaquiddick with a single woman named Mary Jo Kopechne aboard when he, allegedly drunk, drove the car off a bridge and into a pond. He was leaving a party attended only by five married men and six unmarried women. Kennedy escaped the car and swam to shore. Mary Jo Kopechne was not quite so lucky. She died in the car, in the water.

Kennedy failed to even contact the police for a full nine hours, after he was told the car and body had been found.

The Kennedy family chartered a plane to immediately fly the victim's body to her hometown, Wilkes-Barre. No autopsy was conducted.

"This isn't an accusation from Ted Kennedy's political opponents, but a nostalgic remembrance by one of his friends. Ed Klein, former Newsweek editor, tells the Diane Rehm Show:

"I dont know if you know this or not, but one of his favorite topics of humor was indeed Chappaquiddick itself. And he would ask people, have you heard any new jokes about Chappaquiddick? That is just the most amazing thing. Its not that he didnt feel remorse about the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, but that he still always saw the other side of everything and the ridiculous side of things, too."

I got a Great Dane a year ago from a breeder after I spent some time looking at the Great Dane Rescue website. It turned out they were generally only interested in placing older dogs and very cautious about even advertising available puppies. Equally important, they wanted to home interview me, have me fill out an application, and charge me a total of about $500 for the whole process, not including neutering and transportation for my new family member. With a Dane getting a puppy is really important because they tend to have rather short life spans. Any way, after seeing all the red tape and irritation, I found a legitimate breeder who sold me a wonderful puppy for $500 plus the $350 air fare from Texas to Knoxville, TN. Now, a little more than a year later, Canute, the dog's name, is in great health, weighs about 102 lb., is still growing, and flourishing.

First of all, let me state that I have been a breeder of AKC show Beagles for 10+ years.
What you may not know is that the breeder has expenses you may not have considered. For example, my wife whelped a litter of five puppies Saturday night. She was up ALL night. She will sleep on the floor in the room with the puppies for the next two nights to make sure the mother(bitch) does not lay on them by mistake and smother them.
This litter was the result of a breeding to Best in Show stud dog. The stud fee was $1000. We had to fly the bitch roundtrip to NC and back($350). We took the bitch to the vet to be X-rayed last week($150). We will be giving shots and micro chipping each puppy($50+). The food we feed cost $45/bag. What I am getting at is we will need to sell two puppies just to break even. With past litters we had to have emergency C-sections at 4am in the morning($1500).

Good breeders are very selective who they breed to. We are trying to improve the breed, not just sell puppies for a profit. We will not breed to or with anyone who has genetic defects in their line. If we end up with a dog/bitch we some problem we have them nuetered or spade. For these reasons we sell our puppies for more money. In the long run(15 years) our puppies will cost you less because our careful genetic screening. One extra trip to the vets office can easily make up the difference in the original cost of the puppy.

Also, the reason good breeders are very selective in placing their puppies is from experience. We will take back any puppy we sell , EVER. We have had people tell us they lived on 2 acres with a fenced in yard. It turns out they lived in a condo and their neighbors complained about the barking. We typically will not sell a puppy to someone with small children(3 years or less) because these people have their hands full with their kids. We will only sell puppies to someone with a fenced yard.

A great Dane is a very large dog that needs room to run. They were bred to be guard dogs. The breeder wants to make sure you are prepared to handle a breed like that. They do not want to get the puppy back when it is 4-6 months old.
That is why they/we are so selective who we sell to and ask a lot of questions. We typically have no problem selling our puppies and always have a waiting list. Most of our sales are referrals and repeat buyers.

Good for you. I have one problem with my Dane as a guard dog: he’s more of a “watch” dog. This is, he’ll either tentatively sniff and make friends with anybody who comes to the house or sit around and watch what’s happening. All in all, a very friendly, somewhat timid, and very sweet dog. The one thing I wouldn’t do is try to break into my house when he’s here and in it, whether I was here or not.

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